Sunrise
by SilverKitsune013
Summary: One of Zack’s earlier missions is to find and kill an escaped lab dog with a virus. Shame all that dog wants is to see a sunrise. Inspired by the ending of Plague Dogs.


**Sunrise**

**Summary:** One of Zack's earlier missions is to find and kill an escaped lab dog with a virus. Shame all that dog wants is to see a sunrise. Inspired by the ending of Plague Dogs.

**A/N:** I don't own anything except the original character. And I sadly haven't seen or read the Plague Dogs. I only caught the last couple of minutes online.

A distant clang caused me to lift my head. The other animals were nervous as well, waiting to see if the humans were coming. The giant Saint Bernard across from me grumbled and shook his head.

"They're not coming!" he barked out in his gravelly voice. The other animals relaxed, though a nervous terrier tilted his head.

"How do you know?" he asked anxiously. The Bernard scratched his ear and scowled at the tiny dog.

"I do. They don't come this early." he rumbled. The terrier sighed and lay back down. The crisis had been adverted and we could relax now.

This was my life as a lab animal. Every noise brings fear, for it could be the humans coming to take me to the bright room. The bright room was even worse then this cramped kennel. The humans did painful things to me in the bright room. They did painful things to all the animals in the bright room. Sometimes, they didn't come back.

When the humans did come, they chose me. I watched miserably as the other animals sighed in relief. It wasn't their turn. They were safe for now. The humans carried me out and put me into the bright room. They strapped me down to the cold table and slid the shiny needles into me. Soon, I felt numb and cool. I drifted away into unconsciousness as the humans loomed over me.

I was back in the kennel when I woke up. The Saint Bernard was staring at me mournfully. Woozily, I lifted my head. The room was spinning and I felt nauseous.

"They infected you." the Bernard stated quietly. A shiver of fear ran down me and I desperately turned to try and see my color. The Bernard shook his head.

"They changed your tag. It's yellow now. They infected you with something." he said as gently as he could. A whine tore from my throat and I curled up into a ball of misery.

"I'm going to die then. Like all the others." I sobbed. "I'm going to die!"

I was interrupted by a sharp bark from my companion. "Stop your sniveling! That won't save you, ya bloody idiot! It'll only bring the humans back in here!"

I managed to calm down, but I still couldn't stop sniffling. The Bernard sighed from relief and pawed at his ear. "Good. You were giving me a headache."

"Why do the humans do this? I'm a good dog. I try to be at least. Does that count?" I asked at length. My companion gave me a sympathetic look.

"I don't think the humans do it because we're bad dogs. I don't know why they do it though... Maybe it's to help other humans?" he wondered. I sniffled in response.

"I don't want to die." I whimpered, laying my head on my paws.

"You know," the Bernard began gently. "I heard the humans talking about a nice place you go to when you die. They said that other humans with wings would look after you. They'd take care of you, and you'd never hurt or cry. I think they're called angels."

I looked up at him, perking my ears. "D-Do you think I'll go there?"

He bobbed his head. "Yeah."

Hope began blossoming in my chest. "In that case, I'll save an angel for you."

The Bernard wagged his tail slowly. "You mean it?"

I nodded. "It's only fair."

"Thank you..." he whispered happily.

Whatever the humans injected me with, it worked fast. I could feel my body starting to fail. It scared me, but the memory of the nice place that awaited me gave me comfort. The humans came every so often to check on me. They seemed pleased with the results of their test. As I steadily grew weaker, a sadness came over me. Finally, I voiced my thoughts to my companion.

"I wish I could see a sunrise." I sighed. The Saint Bernard glanced up.

"I might be able to help you with your final wish." he said. "I've been watching the humans for a long time and I think I know how to open the door. Stick your paw through the bars and lift the horizontal bar up."

I followed his instructions and was rewarded by the door swinging open. The Bernard wagged his tail.

"Good job! Okay, now, go to the other door and put your jaws around the shiny ball. You have to twist and pull, I think." he instructed. I limped over the door the humans used sometimes and again followed his instructions. The door opened. I glanced over at the others.

"I should free you guys too..." I murmured, limping over to the Bernard's cage. "We can all see the sunrise."

"Hurry. The humans might come." he whispered urgently. I quickly opened his cage and he loped over to the terrier's cage. However, when he opened it, a dreadful squeal sounded out. The terrier winced.

"Go! Go! Go you guys!" he barked as the voices of the humans were heard. The humans were coming; we could hear their footsteps. The Bernard growled.

"We'll head them off. Go on, now. You're the one who's dying. Hurry up! Your sunrise won't wait for you!" he ordered, shoving me out the door when I didn't move. Reluctantly, I turned away and began running. The sounds of the humans' angry shouts and my companions' barks echoed in my ears and tears began streaming down my face. I howled as I ran, hoping my voice would reach my friends and give them strength to escape themselves.

I ran for as long as I could. When my weakened body could run no longer, I limped into an alleyway and curled up behind a couple of trash cans. The air reeked of strange scents, but I loved it. The stench of oppression and chemicals was gone. Slowly, my eyes shut and I fell into a light sleep.

When I woke up, there were two humans standing over me. I panicked and staggered away from them, but my body didn't seem to want to cooperate with me.

"What do ya think's wrong with 'im?" one of them asked. His partner shrugged.

"I dunno. Looks sick. Oy, he's got a collar. Uh-oh... He's one of them lab animals from Shin-Ra. We'd better leave him be. God knows what they did to 'em." he replied. I whined and darted by them and began my journey again.

The sky was blocked from my view by a giant, black thing. If I wanted to see my sunrise, I would have to get past that. I began heading toward the biggest building I could find. It was close to where I escaped, so I hugged the alleyways and stayed close to the shadows. Nobody noticed me. The humans probably thought I was a stray dog.

I slunk around to the back of the huge building. I was exhausted and cold, but I couldn't give up. At the back, there was a long set of ledges that led up the side of the building. I began limping up them.

The ledges didn't seem to have an end. I kept going up and up and up. When I paused for breath, I looked down and immediately wished I hadn't. The ground was so far away, it made me dizzy. After a moment, I convinced my body to continue going up.

I finally made it past the black thing! I could see the sky now and it was beautiful. It was a dark blue with tiny sparklies gleaming. There was a giant, silver orb hanging in the middle of it all. I stared, amazed at the wonderful sight. A cool breeze whispered, ruffling my fur. A tear rolled down my face.

"This ... is freedom." I whispered to myself. More tears came as I remembered my friends. I hoped that they had managed to escape as well. I limped up the last of the ledges and across the flat part to sit at the edge. Glancing up, I was stunned to realize that building still went on. It seemed to touch the sky. Woozily, I lay down. This place was too big for me. I was content to just wait for my sunrise and then move on. Those angels sounded sweeter by the moment. I shivered as another cool breeze blew. It felt wonderful at first, but now I was getting cold. I hope I make it to see my sunrise...

**Zack's POV**

A SOLDIER is always on duty. Normally, that doesn't bother me, but when the President called me in for a briefing at one o'clock in the morning, I was irritated. Staggering into his office, I knew I wasn't exactly presentable, but that's what he gets for waking me up so early. I saluted and he waved me off.

"No time for formality, Seth." he grumbled. I sighed.

"It's Zack, sir." I corrected him. He shrugged.

"Yes, yes. One of our lab animals has escaped. It's carrying a deadly virus. I want it found and exterminated before it contaminates all of Midgar!" he boomed, face turning magenta. Neat trick.

"I'll find the little beast, sir!" I said confidently. The President calmed down somewhat and showed me a photo of the animal. My heart sunk. It was a cute, lean dog with long legs. "Aw... it looks like a little Greyhound..."

"Hojo says that it's a Whippet." the President corrected. Whatever it was, it was cute. I felt bad about having to kill it, but I was a SOLDIER, and they have to follow orders.

"Consider it done." I muttered. The President smirked and handed me a syringe full of clear liquid.

"Good. Use this. You are dismissed." he said, returning to his paperwork. I slunk out of his office, feeling one inch tall.

There are a lot of night owls under the slums, so I was able to get plenty of witnesses. The second they learned it was a lab animal, they grimaced and pointed the way it went. I was surprised when my leads eventually led back to the Shin-Ra building. Cautiously, I looked around in all the little corners. They were empty, except for a disgruntled cat in one of them. I eventually made my way to the back and glanced up the staircase that led to the outdoor gym. Frowning to myself, I began trotting up it. Worth a try...

I hate stairs and I hate staircases and I hate running up them. When I reached the top, I paused to catch my breath. A soft whine made me tense and look around. At the edge of the gym, lay my target. My heart went out to the poor creature as I walked slowly over to it. A light brown eye rolled back to look at me. The dog whined again as I knelt next to it. The virus had taken its toll on the poor thing. I cautiously stroked its side and it tried to scoot closer to me. However, it lacked the strength. I sat down next to it and placed its head on my lap. Stroking its ears with one hand, I prepared the syringe with the other. The dog whimpered and I paused, sighing.

"I'm sorry." I muttered. The dog looked up at me and seemed to forgive me. I looked away for a moment, trying to steel my nerves. The sun was slowly starting to rise, tinting the sky with pastel reds, oranges and yellows. The dog sighed softly, almost sounding content.

Biting my lip, I carefully injected the dog with the serum. "You're a very good dog."

It looked back up at me and slowly wagged its tail once before looking at the sunrise again. A couple seconds passed, and its eyes finally shut. Trying to blink the tears away, I dialed my PHS. The President answered on the third ring.

"Mission accomplished." I said. I was proud of myself for not breaking down right then and there.

"Excellent. Bring it to Hojo." he said, hanging up. I glared at the PHS before hanging up.

**Dog's POV**

My strength had completely left me. I could no longer move and it was getting hard to breathe. Suddenly, I heard a human approaching me. Rolling my eye back, I could see him. He looked so sad. He petted me gently and let me rest my head on his lap. But the sadness persisted. I wanted to comfort him, but I was too weak.

"I'm sorry." he whispered softly. I looked back up at him, forgiving him for what he was about to do.

I knew he was going to kill me. I was an infected lab animal. I wasn't allowed to live. But I was grateful to him for ending the pain sooner.

Then the sun rose. It was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen in my life. I sighed contentedly. I had finally seen my sunrise. Now, I could move on to the nice place. I wonder what my angel looks like.

The human injected me with something. "You're a very good dog."

That made me happy. He was the first human to tell me that. I managed to wag my tail for him and he continued to pet me. Then my eyes started growing heavy and a warmth filled me. I think I'm moving on to the nice place. I hope I can find four angels. One for me, one for the terrier, one for the Saint Bernard, and one for the nice human who helped me move on.

**A/N:** Let's pretend the Shin-Ra building has an outside gym. Lol.


End file.
